If Apple used one of your photos on numerous billboards and inside its stores around the world, would you expect some financial compensation for your work, or would the exposure be enough?
Considering that the company is a commercial entity — and a rather successful one at that — you might actually like the idea of being offered a few bucks for your efforts, as well as for helping Apple to sell a few more iPhones.
Following complaints that its latest “Shot on iPhone” campaign appeared to offer no financial reward, the tech colossus has now changed the wording of the contest’s terms and conditions to indicate that it will cough up cash for the photographers of selected images because it “believes strongly that artists should be compensated for their work.”
Apple’s “Shot On iPhone” campaign launched in 2015 and highlights the handset’s camera by showcasing some of the best photos snapped with it. Whereas in previous years Apple scoured sites like Instagram and Flickr for the best iPhone shots and contacted photographers directly for permission to use their images, this year it’s turned Shot on iPhone into a contest.
Preparations for the next ad campaign kicked off earlier this week, with the company encouraging people to submit their best photos taken with an iPhone. After the February 7 closing date, a panel of judges will choose the 10 best images for use in a global marketing campaign featuring the iPhone.
Concern over Apple’s apparent unwillingness to offer financial compensation to the winning photographers prompted the company to quietly add a new paragraph to its Shot on iPhone press release on Thursday to clarify the situation. The new text confirms that the winning photographers will be paid for their work. It also mentions a licensing fee, but doesn’t go into details.
“Apple believes strongly that artists should be compensated for their work,” the new text says. “Photographers who shoot the final 10 winning photos will receive a licensing fee for use of such photos on billboards and other Apple marketing channels.”
The Verge also spotted that the iPhone maker has altered the wording of the contest’s rules in a PDF document, changing “prize has no cash value” to “winners will receive a licensing fee for use on billboards and other Apple marketing channels.”
Apple collaborated with its long-term ad partner TBWA\Media Arts Lab to come up with the idea for the Shot on iPhone campaign. The campaign has proven so successful that it’s even bagged its creators a prestigious ad industry award along the way.
